Hyperdimension Neptunia: Battle Weary World
by SciFi Maker
Summary: The Battle Weary World is dying from the wars that have laid waste to the land. During exercises, the International Coalition is attacked by aggressor companies Cerin and CRADLE, the battles result in multiple portals in the guise of freak storms. In general decision, the Coalition, spearheaded by Ash, will find something that will lead to the healing of their world... and war.
1. Chapter 1: The Cerin Defense Rumors

**So, how many of you got it correct? The answer was Hyperdimension Neptunia, because 1: superweapons in Vector Thrust seem to be designed for the sole purpose of breaking the laws of physics, and the game itself, and will make a worthy opponent for the goddesses; 2: it's because I can! And now they've gone too far and experimented with interdimensional travel. (Look back at ACWS Ch 10) Cerin, you had ONE JOB! Moral of the day: Never try to play God. It won't end well.**

 **If you read the articles provided by TimeSymmetry in Mod DB, then you'll have an idea of what this other world will look like. If not, then best of luck, 'cause the VT world has been out of luck for 35 years. Originally, I intended for this to be a crossover, but Vector Thrust doesn't have it's own subcategory.**

 **Anyways, let us enter the opening page of Hyperdimension Neptunia: Battle Weary World. (Two chapter combination!)**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: All material directly or pertaining to the game Vector Thrust belongs to it's respectful owner, TimeSymmetry. The same goes for material from Hyperdimension Neptunia.**

Prologue: Two Wars, 20 Years of Chaos

-Altus Executive Airport, Kaesel, Sometime in June 2018-

The reporter finished his interview with the Kaeseli veterans, and started reviewing his report to compare with official sources. He never expected such an event to have so many changes on the world, such as the proxy wars that had become the norm between regional powers as well as major PMCs and their subsidiary branches.

Reporter: "So this is how it all began..."

It all started 55 years ago, in the year 1963. The Third World War began. *Footage of nuclear blast engulfing a military airbase* When the Federated Republics of Kaesel and the Poltavian Federal Republic declared war on each other, along with their respective allies, the current taboos on MAD encouraged the two sides to adopt a new strategy with nuclear weapons: instead of threatening each other with the apocalyptic strategic power of their weapons from the Cold War, they both made a measured tactical use of nuclear weapons in counter-force strikes in an attempt to wipe out the enemy military. This led to the devastating loss of military power, with only their Air Forces barely managing to escape the attacks; yet the civilian populace remained unharmed, if you counted out the residual radiation. *Civilians watching the nuclear blast from afar* With both sides unable to make any expeditionary offensives, the two superpowers reached a ceasefire only a week after the war started. Officially, this could be counted as the end of the Third World War.

Both superpowers went on to reform their remaining forces into a defense force, and became fully dedicated in military rebuilding efforts. The world economy soon saw things turn into a power vacuum, and new changes had come to the world: First, the tactical use of nuclear weapons against an enemy military while avoiding civilian harm quickly became an ethical norm. Second, rebuilding efforts and military development led to the creation of new superweapons. These weapons, which made nuclear arsenals look outdated in comparison, would become known as ANGELs. Finally, the power vacuum left power hungry countries the golden opportunity to fill the vacuum before the world superpowers could finish rebuilding. There was one such nation involved that would become the most feared world superpower during it's reign. A small nation, known as: The Kingdom. *Play the Razgriz Theme from Ace Combat 5*

The Kingdom started as a barren land, with very little resources and only a few fishing towns to occupy the peninsula that sat south of the Centera Sea. When the industrial revolution came, they embraced the new technologies and became the six thriving states which rapidly grew in wealth, gaining popularity and welcoming migrants from all over the globe. After a few decades of war and politicking, they united into a single nation with a figurehead monarch, now earning their name as "The Kingdom." When the dust finally settled in the end of the Third World War, the Kingdom had economic struggles. Driven by ambition and greed, The Kingdom soon established economic supremacy, fueled by the production and export of next generation weapon systems, and led the way in ANGEL development that makes up the world superpowers' strategic arsenals today. Taking part in the golden opportunity to fill the power vacuum, they built their military strength to unprecedented heights, and declared war on the world. This... was The Grand War.

Having power that rivaled that of all six world superpowers combined, they outmatched and overwhelmed their neighbors with ease. The other aggressor nations couldn't even compare with the Kingdom. Annexing it's neighbors and coming close to conquering entire continents, the Kingdom would become the seventh world superpower, and the most powerful and feared one known to man. But taking in so much power would ultimately become their downfall. In the later stages of the Grand War, rebellions soon plagued it's eastern border, and the member states of the Kingdom felt their relations becoming strained. Then the worst happened. Three atomic bombs detonated in the three largest cities of the Kingdom's core states. With their central command destroyed, regional commands lashed out at whoever they thought was responsible, including each other, larger powers, and the six world superpowers across the globe. Over the course of a day, the Kingdom expended its entire strategic arsenal, causing more deaths and more destruction than any other war before it. Fearing the continued aggression, the world superpowers united against the Kingdom to end their destructive rampage, and fought back with everything they had. By the time the last mushroom cloud rose over the war-ravaged landscape, three quarters of the Kingdom's population was dead, it's cities scorched to the ground. *Aerial footage of the massive firestorms as a result of the retaliation* And in 1983, the Grand War came to an end, ultimately putting an end to the 20 years of chaos.

For the destruction they caused, The Kingdom was uniformly blamed for the conflict that had transpired, and the world superpowers created the International Coalition to prevent refugees from coming out and weapons from coming in. Since then, most nations and major companies hire PMCs to do their dirty work, and the economic instability left behind by the two wars ensured that the world would never settle peacefully again, stuck in a constant cycle of proxy wars, inter-corporate wars, and other conflicts that most never pay attention to anymore, as the civilian populace is protected by the International Coalition and the elite peacekeeping force known as the Legion.

It's now been 35 years since the Kingdom fell. In 2003, there was a mercenary who entered the Kingdom, which is now an exclusion zone with the radiation levels high enough to kill someone within minutes, if not seconds without the proper protection. But the we're still pockets of civilization that survived the nuclear hellfire in 1983, which he found with the help of fellow mercenaries. During his time there he achieved many feats such as wiping out an air Force single handedly, killing the prince of Mautique in a one on one dogfight, destroying an ANGEL and even forcing Legionnaire "Overton" to disengage after the latter's Front Radar System was damaged by stray bullets. He eventually became known as "The Raven," notably because of the bird emblem on the tail of his plane. Legion brought him in, and he became one of the first mercenaries to join their ranks, as they normally consisted of military veterans. Today marks the 15th year he has served in the Legion. And through the eyes of this soldier in the sky, a new story will unfold...

... just not the one anybody was expecting.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Cerin Defense Rumors

-Exclusion Zone Border, somewhere in southern Koazia-

The radar shows several unidentified planes crossing the Exclusion Zone border, coming from within the fallen Kingdom.

Blockade Runner 1: "Multiple contacts approaching our position, same bearing as the previous wave."

A ground camera zooms in on the planes, revealing that they are advanced fighters, including J-20s, F-22s, and F-35s.

Blockade Runner 2: "Hey, those planes have Cerin Defense markings."

Blockade Runner 1: "There's been similar sightings by the carrier Resolute."

Blockade Runner 3: "Guys! Legion just arrived!"

The radar shows a formation of five friendly units closing in from behind at high speed. The leading pilot was the Legionnaire at Arms himself, Overton.

Overton: "Torrent, Katsu, take any damaged units and the rookies with you to a safe area. Stay low and out of the fight. FlyAway, Ash, form up on me; the three of us will go high and engage the bandits."

The three Legion Su-47s took a V formation and led the remaining Blockade forces into battle, with the latter knowing well that Cerin's aircraft were far and away superior to their small time F-4s and J-35s. The two forces clashed, and the world saw conflict once again.

* * *

-Legion 10th Air Cohort Station, King Umberto Airport, Koazia, the next day-

The squadron of five returned from patrol and landed on the runway, making pace to reach their designated area. People within the airport watched in awe at the Legion's arrival. Overton got out of his black and gold lined Su-47 and went over to the nearby radio station.

Overton: (murmuring) "Cerin's gonna have one hell of a time explaining this..."

 **Overton-** A highly regarded Legionnaire in the Legion's Tactical Air Century. Age is around the early 50's and the oldest in the group, and hails from Kaesel. Currently the Legionnaire at Arms to manage the activities of the International Coalition and is greatly feared by his enemies.

While Overton was talking with the Central Authority in Eulyria, Ash checked his plane for any damage done, and FlyAway took off his helmet and called out Ash to talk about a certain subject.

FlyAway: "So Ash, I'd like to ask, how did you end up partnered with me when you first joined?"

-Flashback: Legion HQ, Eulyria-

The Chief: "Officially we're an Agency, men and women who work on and off records, born out of a nuclear war and an international coalition. People from every corner of the world, elevated above the use of nuclear weapons to wage war. We fight not to end war, but to keep it a civilized affair.

We care not for your ideals, your convictions, your truths, or your rights and wrongs. The second you and your leaders threaten nuclear warfare on the scale that would create another Kingdom, if the war you fight gets high enough in intensity that it turns into a meat grinder, we're stepping in and making every party involved pay for their incompetence.

We bring the aspect of Hell to them so that hellfire may not raze the Earth. The world calls us Legion because of it.

We are soldiers, operatives, pilots, politicians, fighting in a world where nuclear deterrence has failed one too many times with the authority of the most sovereign nations in the world.

We are the new deterrent in this world and you are our newest pilot.

You passed our screenings, your service record is impressive, and you sure as hell are familiar with the blockade.

In fact we could probably assign you a case and deployment orders today, still I prefer it if we don't rush things.

We've assigned you to this one particular pilot if you need any help further on, a certain person whose callsign is what I want him to do whenever he calls back, but I'm sure you can be productive enough without him..."

-Flasback End-

FlyAway: "Really? The chief gave you that speech when you first joined? Sheesh, I just wanted to get the standard issue airplane that he needed to hand off the forms to me, so I guess I wasn't listening."

 **FlyAway-** A well experienced pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is around the mid 30's, and hails from Kaesel. He tends to be careless on the ground, but he is highly attentive whenever he is sent into the air. He also has so many nicknames given to him since he joined, that everyone gave up counting.

FlyAway's Su-47 was different from the others. Instead of the primary black and gold lining, his plane had a different default of full jet black coloring, bronze lining that lined the edges of all the parts that made up the aerodynamic frame, and the nose was kept white. It also lacked the Legion's emblem that was on the tail of every other plane. This made it look overall made for covert operations at night. Ash's Su-47 had fewer changes. It had light gray lining added with the standard black and gold, and held his custom emblem of a raven on the front end of each air intake, since the tail already bore the Legion emblem. If you're wondering, yes, Ash is the mercenary that joined the Legion in late 2003.

 **Ash-** One of the most popularly known pilots in the Tactical Air Century and is seen as a legend. Age is around the late 20's to early 30's; his nationality is unknown. A quiet guy who keeps to himself. Formerly a mercenary in Bastille flight, his actions were seen as heroic and legendary, most notably when he defended the northern blockade border from Mautique loyalists equipped with their two last EOS-01 Ziz aerial battleships. This action is what gave him a spot in the Legion. His skills are on par with that of Overton's. Because of his "baby face" genes, most mistake him to be almost a decade younger. **He's the protagonist of this story.**

FlyAway: "Man, it's been one war after the other. Nothing on the scale of the Kingdom of course, but there has been no end to it. The conflict going on now is the 2018 Oil Skirmishes." FlyAway then gets into a relaxed position inside the cockpit of his fighter.

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "Are you always this quiet, Ash? I get the fact that our real names are redacted from official files and we only go by our given callsigns, but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to socialize."

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "Hmm, maybe I can help myself to a quick test to see if you're mute. Just a little tickle..."

Ash: (monotone voice) "... Please don't."

FlyAway, Torrent and Katsu: "Hey! The mute speaks!" FlyAway jumps down from his fighter and the others join in.

Katsu: "Still, you could at least put some emotion into it."

 **Katsu-** A pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is in the early 30's, and the only pilot in the 3rd Air Cohort that hails from Juushin. He was the first to witness the offensive power of the EOS-04-1 Leviathan during a shakedown run, and is aware that Legion has a dozen of them patrolling the world's oceans.

Torrent: "Yeah, you don't have to sound like the airport's PA announcement system."

 **Torrent-** A pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is around the late 30's, and hails from Kaesel. He earned his callsign because of his self-taught use of "diving into the fireworks." Once when he used this tactic while charging towards the enemy head on, he made a personal record of downing 27 enemy fighters via firing bullets into the air intake, BEFORE he turned back around to engage the rest.

Overton: "Will you three knock it off? Ash is the youngest here and yet he acts more mature than the lot of you!"

FlyAway: "Yeah, yeah, so what's next?"

Overton: "We head back to Port Aester tomorrow at 1300 hours, then prepare for the BLUE POINT naval exercises for this year."

Torrent: "What's the location this time? Please not the Grakata Ice Shelf. That place is COLD."

Overton: "This year, it's the Gulf of Nyx. First reason being to end the aggressive threats between Nyria, Antar and Jerny, and second reason being that we need to make sure that the Cerin Defense Corporation isn't doing anything stupid with whatever they're fishing out of the Exclusion Zone."

FlyAway: "Hey Ash, your first mission was in Guernei, right? What was the last thing they were working on?

Ash: "... A new form of clean energy, and instantaneous transportation systems."

Katsu: "A friend told me that Cerin was working on something similar to the latter. They recently designed a prototype interceptor with that technology."

Overton: "(sigh) They're likely working with the CRADLE conglomerate to gain an edge over Sigsawa Heavy Industries."

Torrent: "Too predictable of them. I bet they're still angry about losing five of their mercenary naval battlegroups to a single Sigsawa cruiser."

Katsu: "'Cruiser' would be an understatement. More like a Dreadnought."

Overton: "You can discuss about that during your break. Get a move on."

Everyone else: "Yes, sir!"

* * *

-BLUE POINT Exercises, Gulf of Nyx, One month later-

The combined fleets of Kaesel, Poltavia, and Eulyria began naval exercises, having a combined number of nearly 700 ships. They were currently training for a large scale beach landing. The Legion's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tactical Air Cohorts were sent from each of their respective countries as a security detail.

Overton: "Keep a tight formation."

FlyAway: "Man, I haven't seen an SNB-02B mobile seabase since the Juushin Civil War in 2007." He looked down at the massive carrier.

Torrent: "Hey Ash, what do you think you'll be doing afterwards?"

Ash: "..."

Torrent: "Silent treatment, huh?"

Katsu: "I hate to interrupt, but I have unknown blips on my radar."

Cavalier 1: "This is Cavalier flight, is anyone seeing an unidentified formation on their radar?"

Coalition Carrier 1 (Stoykiy): "We have the aircraft on our radar as well. We'll send Oryol flight to reinforce."

Cavalier 1: "Roger that, we'll approach the aircraft now and give a warning."

The four F-14Ds that were Showtime flight approached the formation of three unknown aircraft.

Showtime 1: "They don't have any affiliated markings, but they have experimental colors. Establishing communication. (Clears throat) Attention unidentified aircraft, you have entered restricted airspace and- AHH!"

Coalition Carrier 2 (Resolute): "Cavalier flight, what happened?!"

Cavalier 1: "They just back-flipped behind us and shot down my wingmen. My right wing is damaged and hostiles are rushing your position!"

Overton: "Stoykiy, Resolute, scramble your fighters. The 3rd Tactical Air Cohort and I will hold them off."

FlyAway: "Let's go partner." Ash gives a nod in response.

Ten of the thirty Legion fighters went full afterburner and charged at the three experimental craft.

Coalition Destroyer: "I've matched the radar signature to an experimental model. They're from CRADLE's Dark Crescent Project."

Overton: "So they're using the prototypes meant to serve as counterparts to the Scylla UCAV in Juushin."

Katsu: "And we're the test subjects. Great."

The group split off, and engaged the Dark Crescents. It appeared to be a combination of the Scylla UCAV and Su-47 Berkut, with added wing surfaces while lacking vertical fins. And yes, they're painted jet black, but their orange wingtips and elevators stick out like a sore thumb. Torrent rolled his plane sideways, and fired his gun. The bullets went into the air intake, causing the engine to burst into flame. The first Dark Crescent spiraled out of control and crashed into the gulf, due to the imbalance of thrust.

Torrent: "That's one for me."

Ash did a High-G turn and shot down the second Dark Crescent while doing so.

Overton: "Nice one, Ash."

Katsu and FlyAway were behind the final Dark Crescent. As soon as they both had a lock, they fired one missile each.

Katsu and FlyAway: "Fox two!"

Right before the missiles could hit, the final Dark Crescent back-flipped behind the two Legionnaires and fired with two wing-mounted guns. Both Legionnaires dodged, and the Dark Crescent went after FlyAway. He made a High-G turn, but the Dark Crescent kept up this time. The Dark Crescent then fired a missile from it's internal bay, which FlyAway countered with flares. He dived down to sea level with the Dark Crescent close behind, pulling up and speeding forward just as the exhaust nozzles touched the water. The Dark Crescent pulled up early and overshot. FlyAway once again had the aircraft in his sights. Just as he was about to fire, the Dark Crescent did a 180 and fired it's guns at him. Once it was behind FlyAway, it flipped over to attack FlyAway from behind. FlyAway noticed that the Dark Crescent chasing him appeared to have a few "glowing" components. At the same time, he noticed that the Dark Crescent appeared more unstable at higher altitudes. He pulled up, the Dark Crescent following as he expected. Katsu and Ash gave chase. Katsu's computer started giving radiation warnings as he flew behind the Dark Crescent. The Dark Crescent was about to shred FlyAway's plane when a missile hit the cockpit of the aircraft. Ash had pulled above it and fired the missile at an angle to hit the Dark Crescent in the cockpit. The Dark Crescent was then torn apart by it's own debris and exploded, revealing a damaged power core within the burning wreckage.

Katsu: "Everyone, get away from the wreakage! Now!"

Everyone went to full afterburner and escaped just as the wreckage gave off a much larger, secondary explosion, releasing radiation all over. The radiation had a cyan glow to it.

Katsu: "It's Machovsky particulate!"

Coalition Carrier 1: "All units, rescue anyone that's in the water and place full quarantine lockdown as soon as everyone is safe inside!"

Coalition Carrier 2: "There's no time for that! You'll just be getting more people killed! Leave them!"

Coalition Carrier 1: "(Poltavian (Russian) negative) You have obligations, (Poltavian cursing), Resolute. Do your duty, or I will (Poltavian threat)!"

Coalition Carrier 2 Crew: "What did he say?" "I don't know."

The Machovsky particles started causing alterations to the weather, suddenly creating a storm with a super cell in the middle. It could count as a freak storm, but don't start thinking this is a reference to Xenonauts, okay? Anyways, where the middle of the super cell was, the was pitch black darkness, almost like a black hole, except nothing was being sucked in.

FlyAway: "What is that?"

Overton: "All units, standby."

What appeared to be several large drops then fell out of the super cell, landing on the Resolute.

Coalition Carrier 2 Crew: "What's that?" "Looks like slime, like kid's slime in packaging to resemble a dog." "Whoa! What the-" "It's alive!" "Someone shoot it!" (Gunshots) "I think it's dead."

Coalition Carrier 1: "Stoykiy to Resolute, what's going on over there?"

Coalition Carrier 2: "Guards just killed what appeared to be slimes with dog faces. They turned into... pixels, and... vanished? I DON'T KNOW, THEY'RE DEAD NOW!"

Overton: "I'm detecting something large on radar. Around the size of a Gemini bomber."

The said radar signature exited the super cell of the storm, revealed to be an ancient dragon.

FlyAway: "Katsu, is there any chance that the CRADLE facility that you found in Juushin was working on some superweapon that turns anime into real life?"

Ash: (Facepalms his helmet)

Overton: "What you said made zero sense."

The dragon then attacked, first using it's claws. Aiming for Ash, he then quickly dodged the claws and looked back at the dragon.

Ash: "..."

Ash then circled around, and fired a missile at it's back. The missile, while leaving the scales intact, sent a concussive force upon exploding, causing major organ damage and rupturing of blood vessels. From his view, the ancient dragon started spewing blood out of the mouth, then fell to the waters below. It was still alive even after such a concussive blast. Ash then armed two of his bombs.

Ash "...Two away."

Dropping the bombs, they exploded against the dragon's body, engulfing it in flames, then water that splashed upwards. All that remained when the mist cleared was a large red blotch in the gulf the the dragon once was, before becoming pixelated and vanishing, returning the water to its original ocean blue color.

Overton: "It's become quite clear that we need to investigate whatever is in the other side of that super cell."

Katsu: "Sir."

Overton: "What is it, Katsu?"

Katsu: "Other stations are reporting similar situations of being attacked and seeing similar super cells form."

Overton: "Whatever Cerin and CRADLE are planning, we need to shut it down. I am hereby suspending exercises and ordering an immediate investigation of these anomalies."

FlyAway: "Well partner, things just got much more interesting."

Ash: "...Yeah..."

* * *

-Operation Storm's Shadow, Gulf of Nyx, Two weeks later-

The International Coalition left a small carrier battlegroup to guard each anomaly that had formed. They eventually returned in full force, bringing sea platforms that would act as a base, after sending a recon drone to the other side. The drone revealed plenty of an ocean with land in the distance, and samples resulted in a breathable atmosphere. After a short period, the drone had to return due to radio interference.

Overton: "Checking flaps." The flaps of his Su-47 moved accordingly for check-up. The others were doing the same.

FlyAway: "So, why are we doing this on the platform itself?"

Overton: "We need to be ready for whatever's on the other side. Alright, move the platforms in."

The tugboats put on the throttle and started pushing the three platforms that made up the runway. As they entered, they could hear the sounds of radio screeching, loud enough that crews had to cover their ears. There was also radio interference. The screeching died down, and the crews and Legionnaires looked around. They saw a bright light at the end, and as they exited, the platforms ended up on an ocean during night time. Out on the horizon, mountains were visible. The land spanned as far as the eye could see, from end to end.

FlyAway: "That's gotta be a supercontinent, if I've ever known one."

A soldier was looking through binoculars, scanning the sky for activity. He then saw multiple ancient dragons, all attracted by the storm.

Soldier: "Multiple hostiles sighted! They're dragons!"

AA tanks and fighter jets took position on the platforms. The Legion's 3rd Tactical Air Cohort took off, and armed their weapons for battle.

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "This is it. Come on."

Then, the two forces engaged as the sun rose up from the horizon.

* * *

 **Well, two chapters in one package. I got an exam coming, so I wanted to get this done as soon as possible. Anyone that likes my other stories as well, especially my Index stories, my deepest apologies for having to put them on hiatus. I will resume as soon as I can make some space on my schedule. Thank you all for your patience.**

 **Also, How do you like the new cast of characters? These characters are all from the Vector Thrust universe (Except Torrent, I made him up). We'll see how our new protagonist holds up in Gamindustri, as the forces of the Battle Weary World try to figure out what is going on, use it as proof against the Cerin and CRADLE conglomerates, and shut down their operations for good.**

 **Until next time, please Review...**

 **Next chapter...**

 **"... That makes ten."  
** **_**

 **"An army?"  
** **_**

 **"What is that?"  
** **_  
**

 **"Who was she?"  
_**

 **"This is beyond Cerin and Cradle now."**

 **-Static-**

 ***Play the ending song from Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation***


	2. Chapter 2: Acts of Aggression

**Alright, now that I've gotten some of my big college reports out of the way, I can continue on this story. Time to enjoy another chapter...**

 **I'll be honest with you, I don't know how to make emoticons.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Acts of Aggression

Ash was given the position to lead the International Coalition to the new world. Over the course of a month, the Coalition had used much of their platforms to form the massive floating base in the ocean, ever so distant from the landmass visible in the northwest of where they settled, as they guarded the portals that served as an open door to their own world. It at first seemed like paradise, to breathe in the fresh air, feel the sunlight without interference of random storms, and free themselves from the contamination of the radiation and Machovsky particles that plagued their homeworld, being finally able to forget their sins of war.

But such a vision was short-lived. Throughout the time, their gathering of forces in the new world attracted monsters of many kinds, bringing a constant danger to the foreign beings. But every time the monsters came, Legion defeated them. Fueled by the War Machine that kept its gears turning in their homeworld, the Coalition was determined to use any amount of force necessary against the common enemy. And so, to secure their perimeter, they came up with a plan. A plan that resembled the one from the end of the Grand War, when the War Machine was at it's peak. A plan to make a beachhead on the main continent, with the support of total bombardment in the intention to annihilate the beasts that swarmed the vast forests. With the help of recon units, they were able to map out the new world, and bring about the fruition of their discoveries.

Overton: "So what is this?"

Torrent: "As you can see, these all appear to be cities, meaning that there is civilization here. They're around as advanced as we are, except the northern areas, as the cold climate there prevents from making any fancy structures aside from castles, plus the fact about it's more fantasy setting."

Overton: "Do we have any idea about nationalities?"

Katsu: "Our recon drones were able to focus on billboards and signs to indicate routes of transportation. And from what info we gathered along with images captured by our recently launched satellites, we have been able to make a rough boundary for each nation. This area to the left with all the lilac colored buildings is called Planeptune, the eastern area directly across, and currently closest to us, is Lastation, the wintery area to the north is Lowee, and the separate continent to the south of these three is Leanbox. There is also another continent on the other side of the planet, but seems to show few signs of civilization, having only fishing ports as the biggest civilizations, while inland, well, there's not much aside from small villages."

Overton: "Okay, so where's Ash and FlyAway?"

Torrent: "Ash is getting a personal look of the land, so he can better coordinate his landing op when the time comes. FlyAway is being the usual egghead he is since he's not flying today."

Overton: "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see..."

Torrent: "Something concerning you?"

Overton: "High Command is thinking of reactivating the SPECTER Project. And Ash, well..."

Torrent: "Right... tampering with the powers of God, aren't we..." Torrent then left the room, fully remembering how Ash ended up in the thick of that project.

* * *

-Meanwhile, in the forests of Lastation-

Noire and Uni reverted from their HDD forms, finishing off the last monsters that threatened the town sitting just a few miles from the beach.

Noire: "Are there any more of them, Uni?"

Uni: "That should be all of them. But big sis, it concerns me."

Noire: "The large amounts of monsters that have been spawning?"

Uni: "Yes, and then there's that." Uni then points to the super cell, being perfect in shape and pitch black darkness beneath it."

Noire: "Yes, they've been forming all over the place. Along with reports of strange sounds... But anyways, what's important is that we finished the last of our work today, and I can prove to Neptune that laziness puts you on the bottom of the hill."

Just then, they heard the noise that was familiar to that which was found in the reports. Suddenly, they both looked up to see a jet pass over their heads, going out to sea and towards the super cell of the storm. The jet they saw was an Su-47, its body and wings painted in black and gold livery, with light gray lining to add on, the word LEGION on each side of the nose, and an emblem on the tail and a smaller custom emblem near the front air intake. The two had witnessed Ash pass over them, and they remained watching it shrink into the distance.

Uni: "Shouldn't we chase after it?"

Noire: "We wouldn't be able to keep up with it in HDD form, much less handle such constant speeds in doing so. And right now, we're both spent. It's best we ignore it for now and head back."

Uni: "Right!"

The two headed back, having no idea what would soon happen next. And by the time anyone would find out, it would all be done...

* * *

-Operation Full Front, Coasts of Lastation, Three days later-

Numerous aircraft and ships arrived just off the coast. Amphibious craft started to line the beach, releasing soldiers and vehicles onto the battlefield. Monsters came out of caves, forests, mountains, any place that seemed logical. As they reached the ground forces, they were immediately shredded by the overwhelming firepower of caseless ammunition, directed energy, OICW rounds, missiles, cannons, more missiles, lasers, railguns, CIWS, Machovsky-based weapons, napalm, and even more missiles. The only way that this differed from the Kingdom was that this battle lacked the saturation bombardment of a small area, along with the lack of nukes. Now why wouldn't nukes be used? Well, one, they would cause too much collateral damage, and two, nukes are OUTDATED!

AWACS Muraille: "Enemy down to thirty percent strength. Keep those triple M's pounding."

Leviathan Weapon Control: "Prepare Micro Missile Munition bombardment."

 **EOS-04-1 Leviathan:** An ANGEL naval superweapon designed to have a Support/Denial role. A "cruiser" measuring at around a mile long, it is armed with SM-3 cruise missiles to intercept nuclear launches, and carries the offensive firepower to rival an entire carrier battlegroup, along with some rumored offensive capabilities that remain classified. One such rumor is that it the cannon mounted at the bow of the ship is capable of blasting an entire island sky high. I've just realized... let's hope that doesn't happen to Leanbox.

Coalition Soldier: "We need focused artillery in the north sector and air support to wipe out those dragons..."

Torrent: "Here comes the next wave!"

Ash shot down another dragon with his gun. Turning around, he took down two more with missiles.

Ash: "...That makes ten."

FlyAway: "Yeesh, these creatures never learn, do they?"

Ash: "..."

Katsu: "South sector's been covered. How's things in the central sector?"

Torrent: "We're cleaning up the rest of them, but support is needed up north."

Katsu: "Alright, then. Once we have the north sector covered, we'll have the entire east coast monster-free."

Ash: "Moving out."

After the north sector was covered, the captured coastline was split into three command areas, each with their own multipurpose base: the North Command, Central Command, and South Command. They received orders from the Higher Command stationed at the intricate system of floating platforms out at sea. With that, the Coalition's navies could now dock, rearm and refuel to patrol the ocean standing between the land and the portals. And all done in a week's work.

* * *

-Lastation Basilicom, Lastation, August 2018 by Terra timeline-

Noire continued filing through her paperwork while Uni was out on a quest. Said paperwork was full of complaints and investigations about constant explosions and sounds of thunder, even earthquakes.

Noire: "They keep talking about this, and now I'm concerned if I'm missing the big picture."

Female Voice: "What big picture?"

Noire turned around to see Neptune three feet behind her.

Noire: "UWAH?! Neptune! You really need to stop doing that!"

Neptune: "Aww, you're saying you don't like surprises?"

Noire: "It's not like that!"

Neptune: "Nepu? Then what is it like, hmm?"

Noire: "(sigh) Never mind."

Noire's phone then started ringing. Looking to see who was calling, she immediately answered seeing that it was Uni.

Noire: "Hello? Uni?"

Uni (over the phone): "Sis! This is bad! It's worse than I thought!"

Noire: "Calm down, what's bad?"

Uni: "The storm cells! Look at the news!" Noire could tell that her little sister was very panicked about this. Running towards the TV, she pressed a button on her remote and a breaking news broadcast immediately appeared on the screen. There was aerial footage of much of the eastern areas of Lastation in flames, the forests being scorched, mountains leveled, caves buried, and a relentless barrage of projectiles flying through the air. And the forces responsible had stretched in formations lining all the way back to the storm cells over the ocean.

Reporter: "There's an unimaginable number of unknown forces spread throughout the eastern areas of Gamindustri, with countless formations in the air. There's just no end to them, and they've utterly annihilated anything and anyone standing in their way, and they are now occupying the entire eastern coastline of Lastation, along with numerous sightings of fleets approaching Lowee and Leanbox. We are still waiting for a response from the goddesses on how the nations should approach this..."

Noire shut off the TV after what she heard. She wasn't able to understand the scale of the situation. Her security system should have been flawless and she should have known about it before they began, yet they plowed through everything like it was paper. What she was up against now had the literal look of being a thousand times worse than the CPU Shift Period.

Neptune: "Geez, talk about a one sided battle."

Noire: "Uni, head back to the Basilicom now. We need to gather everyone about this."

* * *

-2 Hours Later-

Histoire: "I take it everyone's here?"

Everyone: "Yes."

Noire: "Alright, Nepgear, Uni, what have you found so far?"

Nepgear: "Well, your satellites pictured what we could cover, and right now, we're at a severe disadvantage. Their armies outnumber our own by... a lot."

Noire: "An army?"

Nepgear presses a button, and three holographs show up, with analysis of Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. A third of Lastation, the entire east coast, was completely blockaded at the furthest point of invasion, while fleets had surrounded the eastern areas of Lowee and Leanbox, setting up naval blockades in a strategy that could only be called near-perfect at the very least. And true to Nepgear's words, the land forces numbered at around the millions at their current buildup. They had countless aircraft, and their current navy consisted of at least a thousand ships of varying size and role.

Vert: "Thinking from a strategic standpoint as I would from my video games, the enemy seems to lack enough forces to blockade the entire continent, but that is not likely their intention."

Blanc: "What do you mean by that, Vert?"

Vert: "Looking closely at their formations, they are acting against anyone that tries to approach the portals that they came from. They likely have something of importance on the other side."

Neptune: "Ooh, this is totally like the final mission from Xenonauts, when you have to fly through all the alien spaceships and take out the leader. And then... Nepu! What happens if the author gives us the bad ending?!"

And there's the first official fourth wall break of the story.

Noire: "Well, ignoring Neptune for the moment, shouldn't we investigate this portal that's causing this entire force to spill through?"

Histoire: "That's ill advised. Whoever they are, they're highly experienced, most especially the ones piloting craft in black and gold livery."

Histoire showed another screen, which played captured footage of a squadron of Su-47's with said livery using combat tactics that could rival an entire army alone. Strangely enough, they were fighting against forces with similar tech. Histoire then showed yet another screen, this time showing a massive ship from satellite view, with markings on the bow labeling it as IXG-13. The measurements showed it to be approximately a mile long.

Neptune: "Nepu! That's huge! And scary!"

Nepgear: "Histoire, how powerful is that thing?" Nepgear was worrying too much, with good reason.

Histoire: "You don't want to know."

Noire and Uni: "Just tell us."

Histoire: "(Sigh) By my calculations, it's at the very least fifty times more powerful than a goddess at full strength, and that's when it's only using standard defensive power."

Vert: "A fearsome weapon indeed."

Uni: "Like it was designed for the purpose of killing goddesses."

Neptune: "Hey, we should have used that against Arfoire! Forget considering that broadsword, IF!"

Histoire: "Please don't joke around. This is serious. And IF is on a quest."

Nepgear: "Can't we try going around it, or dashing through the defenses?"

Histoire: "There's still the risk of that whole blockade patrolling the ocean, but it's possible."

Neptune: "Alright then! Mission Impossible time!"

Histoire: "Be careful out there. They may not look the part, but I can tell they're more battle hardened than any monster out there."

* * *

-International Coalition 3rd Blockade Line, Gamindustri, during the night-

The two custom colored Legion Su-47's that were Ash and FlyAway were both patrolling the night sky. The 3rd Blockade Line was the middle defense of the five lines of ships defending the portals from any monsters that would show.

FlyAway: "There she is, Ash. Although she's only partially operational with standard armaments and defense, that is indeed IXG-13, LPS Zaratan."

The International Coalition pulled out the Zaratan from the construction yard early, arming it with only the standard armaments and sent it through the portal to act as a flagship for the blockade in this world. At it's current stage, it had point defense systems, secondary guns, one functional cruise missile launch section, half-operational armor, a large-scale prototype metamaterial paneled cloaking system, and a functioning, but incomplete, Anti-ANGEL laser cannon prototype, mounted behind the inactive main cannon, putting the ship at around 75% completion. For unknown reasons, the excessive, but harmless energy that emits through the armor, mostly low level Machovsky particles, was causing crystal growth on any land exposed to it. For now, they could only disregard and accept it as a minor side effect caused by chemistry. As the patrol went on, the two Legionnaires suddenly found multiple formations on their radar, believed to be another bombing attack.

FlyAway: "Oh that's just great. CRADLE again? This is the third time since they went through a portal of their own!"

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "Alright Ash, let's do this!"

The two Su-47's then joined Cavalier flight (4 F-14D's) and Showtime 100 (2 AST-21's), and everyone went full afterburner to intercept the opposing force while the others scrambled into the air. The enemy flight came into view, they noticed the all too familiar twin fuselage, with a double cylinder on top of each. The SBA-21 Gemini made and now retired by the Federal Congress of Albarn. There were several formations, along with Dark Crescent fighters (now designated as DX/F-01) as escort.

FlyAway: "Showtime, keep the gunners distracted, Cavalier, take them out. We'll handle the fighters this time."

Cavalier 1: "We're counting on you, I don't want them mopping the floor with me like last time."

FlyAway: "It's strange though, why would they use old retired bombers from the 60's when they're all about next gen experimental technology?"

Ash: "PMC's?"

FlyAway: "Ah, right, I almost forgot they're buddy-buddy with Cerin."

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "All units, engage."

* * *

-Noire's POV-

Noire, now transformed into Black Heart, flew through the sky with the other goddesses. As they approached the storm cell, flashes started appearing below the clouds, along with the sounds of explosions.

-Keep in mind they're in HDD form this whole scene.

Nepgear: "What's going on down there?"

Uni: "Something must be attacking them. They did attract monsters by the thousands, after all."

Suddenly, an explosion knocked a bomber out of the air, forcing the goddesses to fly downward to avoid getting hit. They went through the clouds and watched the bomber fall, then looked forward, and saw an unending amount of chaos between them and the portal that remained within the storm. One could easily say that it looked like a Death Run course.

Vert: "My, when was the last time anyone fought this intensely?"

Noire: "Never. Even I can't recall doing anything like this."

Neptune: "You are the overconfident type."

Noire: "EXCUSE ME?!"

Blanc: "Not the time to argue, get down!"

A Cerin X-16S was closing in, and fired it's gun at a plane directly behind the group, the goddesses having to fly out of the way in a split-second. The Cerin jet then chased after it's target, a Coalition Su-25TM, and shot it down. As the X-16S came around at another pass at the opposing attackers, a missile hit the jet in the engine, spiraling it out control for the goddesses to dodge again. Turning around, they saw a black and gold liveried Su-47 move in and shoot down another Cerin X-16S with its gun, then fired two missiles and destroyed two F-22A's approaching it head on, and fired a third missile, destroying an Su-37 while dodging it's return fire.

* * *

Torrent: "That's five for me."

FlyAway: "Don't go barging in by yourself, we're on our way with the rest of the cohort."

Torrent: "Don't complain when Ash takes the spotlight again."

FlyAway: "(Chuckle) Roger that."

Ash: "... Large contacts approaching."

Torrent: "Let's see... aw, crap, they're big..."

* * *

Noire: "We need to move."

Vert: "Agreed."

The goddesses continued on, having to dodge several jets, missiles, tracers and debris, but otherwise remained uninterrupted. They made their way through the multiple blockade lines, eventually being only ten miles from the portal. Of course, there was still one last obstacle in the way.

Neptune: "Wait, is that..."

Nepgear: "It is."

*Play "Dirty Worker" from Armored Core Verdict Day*

The IXG-13 LPS Zaratan deactivates it's prototype metamaterial panels, quickly adjusting from bow to aft to bring it's armor and weapons to bear, not at the goddesses, but at the large aerial assault force consisting of 3 EOS-01 Ziz and 7 EOS-05PP Mazikeen approaching from the northwest.

* * *

Enemy Pilot: "Sir! A massive craft appeared on radar!"

Enemy Captain: "Magnify!"

Enemy Pilot: "Yes, sir!"

The screen showed the footage zooming in on the ship, the captain being at first surprised at the sight of the ship, then just as quickly became terrified at the fact that it was a Leviathan "cruiser," and one owned bearing the colors of the Legion.

Enemy Pilot: "...Sir?"

Enemy Captain: "FIRE EVERYTHING!"

As said, the Ziz battleships and Mazikeen Bombers fired their ordinance in multiple salvos, and the Zaratan immediately intercepted with it's CIWS, the goddesses simply watching from the distance. Explosions erupted in the sky to the point it was practically made of fire and smoke.

Enemy Captain: "WAIT!"

The entire assault force immediately ceased fire. All of the crew remained attentive for any possible sighting and any new orders from the captain. On the screen, the smoke cleared to reveal the Zaratan... completely intact with no damage whatsoever. This caused the captain to panic again.

Enemy Captain: "FIRE EVERYTHING!"

The assault force continued unloading all of their ordinance at the Zaratan, only to be met with the same futile result. It still had no damage.

Torrent: "That captain must have horrible combat experience if he can't even determine the strength of his enemy without wasting ammunition. Zaratan, you're cleared to use the laser."

Weapon Control: "Roger that. We've got one shot, so let's make it count."

AWACS Muraille: "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Fire!"

The Zaratan fired the laser with a sound similar to a Genocide Cannon. The laser streaked across the sky, and the goddesses who were watching were suddenly blinded by it's light as it practically vaporized the assault force and created a blast that covered the remaining sky. The shock wave from the blast also forced them down towards the ocean, crashing through the remains of a Coalition Sovremenny that had been unfortunately caught in the middle of the assault force's attack.

The CPU's flew back out of the water after recovering, but the Candidates had reverted back to human form, and were holding on to the floating remains to avoid drowning. Neptune flew down to check on them, while Noire kept a lookout for the Zaratan, which had reactivated it's metamaterial panels and went invisible.

Neptune: "You okay?"

Nepgear: "The four of us are okay, but we can't transform. I think we spent all of our shares just to withstand the blast."

Noire: "We need to move! That thing's aiming for us now!"

The Zaratan revealed itself now pointing it's point defense turrets and secondary guns at the goddesses, and immediately fired a hail of bullets that would give even Arfoire a run for her shares. The goddesses immediately blocked the barrage of bullets with their force fields, but were straining to remain in position to defend the Candidates, much less keep their fields intact. Noire recalled the words from Histoire.

 _They may not look the part, but I can tell they're more battle hardened than any monster out there._

Just where did they learn to build and use such powerful weaponry?

* * *

Gunnery Commander: "What are the defense systems shooting at?" He looked at the screen with mild confusion, seeing that the systems were engaged with something, but couldn't tell what it actually was.

Leviathan Weapon Control: "We're not too sure ourselves, but they're definitely tougher than the last few things we've encountered. Should we focus more firepower?"

Gunnery Commander: "Just don't let them reach the storm cell."

Leviathan Weapon Control: "Roger that."

* * *

Blanc: "Aaaarrrghh! You're really starting to piss me off!"

Blanc throws her ax at the ship, the ax sending sparks into the air as it flew back to it's owner. But all Blanc did to the hull was scratch the paint job. Then the missile launchers focused on Blanc in addition to the guns. Said missile launchers were holding 56 Micro-Missile Munition rounds in groups of 14 in trapezoid-shaped pods, the 4 pods arranged in the 2x2 arrangement of a SAM launcher. And there were at least twenty now pointing at the goddesses.

Neptune: "Hate to break it to you Blanc, but I think you're the one who pissed them off."

The launchers fired what seemed like enough missiles to literally blast the average person into next week. The missiles quickly overwhelmed the goddesses, and when the smoke cleared, they were floating on the surface of the ocean, face up, with pain inflicted similar to taking 200 supersonic explosive-lined punches against every inch of their bodies.

Noire: "Damn, this actually hurts quite a lot... and I thought CFW Magic could hit hard."

Unknown: "Oh, is this what I've been missing?"

All 8 CPU's look up to the source of the voice.

Neptune: "You... you're supposed to be dead... Magic."

CFW Magic: "Arfoire had one last trick up her sleeve. Should there be enough chaos, the magic spell placed in our dead bodies would take the negative energy resulting from it, and bring us back to life. Now then, since these foreigners were so kind enough to make my job easier..."

CFW Magic then kicked Noire before she could recover, placing her closer to the other three goddesses.

CFW Magic: "... I will finish you all off, here and-" Before she finished, the wreckage of one of the Mazikeen bombers fell into the ocean, with Magic directly underneath it. Seeing that Magic wouldn't be able to untangle herself from all the twisted metal anytime soon, the four remaining goddesses reverted back to human form.

Neptune: "Well, that the author's Rules of Karma for ya. Rule #2: Trying to cut corners earns you an unpredictable slap in the face from Life. Don't worry readers, the other rules will appear in due time."

CFW Magic: "DAMN YOU ALL! JUST YOU WAIT, I WILL... (gurgling underwater)"

The last of the wreckage sank beneath the surface, taking Magic with it, but such a thing would only hold her off for a short amount of time.

Vert: "I think I've regained a few of my shares. We should get out of here, while we still can."

As she said that, a large VTOL aircraft, a Barachiel Transporter, flew in and hovered just over the waters, right where Rom and Ram were.

Blanc: "What are they..."

Noire: "They're kidnapping them?!"

CRADLE Soldier 1: "Take those two first, then take the other two just over there."

The soldiers walked down the back ramp and forcefully pulled the twins out of the water and into the craft against their will.

Ram: "Let go of me!"

Rom: "Big sis, help!"

Blanc: "Rom! Ram!" Blanc started swimming towards the craft, but the damage she took from the Zaratan proved to be too much for her to keep going.

CRADLE Soldier 2: "First two targets retrieved, securing them now."

CRADLE Soldier 1: "Good, now get the other two-" The soldier was then shot through the chest by Uni, holding her railgun sniper in the distance.

CRADLE Soldier 3: "Shit! What the hell was that?!"

CRADLE Soldier 2: "Damn! Forget about the others, we need to get out of here!"

CRADLE Soldier 3: "But we should-"

CRADLE Soldier 2: "The top brass only need two! Just secure those two girls and get us out of here! Sir? Sir! Hold on!"

The transporter then started flying away, Uni was still firing into the craft as the ramp closed. Then the transport fired a missile from the port built into the top, which proceeded to fly towards and detonate where Uni and Nepgear were, knocking them off the floating debris they were standing on. The transport entered supersonic, quickly going out of reach from the goddesses.

Blanc: "Rom... Ram... (sobbing)" For the first time in her life, Blanc felt that she had truly failed her duty as an older sister, and let her emotions spill out. Not just failing to save them, but doing nothing when they were just in front of her, and simply watching as they vanished along with the transporter.

Vert swam to the debris that Blanc now lied on, attempting to comfort her to the best of her ability. Noire got on another piece of debris and watched the transport vanish into the distance. She wasn't sure, but there was a noticeable logo on the side of the transport that she saw. Looking down at her feet, she saw the same logo on the debris she was standing on, which used to be the right wing of a Mazikeen bomber. The logo read " _ **CRADLE Conglomerate**_ " in electric blue Bold-Italic lettering, surrounded in a computer-circuit frame design in green.

Noire: "Uni, come look at this." Uni came over to see what Noire found and immediately noticed the logo.

Uni: "That's the same logo I saw on that transporter as it turned away." Blanc then looked up towards Noire and Uni.

Neptune: "CRADLE? So you're saying they're the ones who took Rom and Ram away."

Vert: "They also attacked the forces around us. These ships seem to be labeled as part of the 'International Coalition,' or just 'Coalition,' for short."

Nepgear: "International Coalition?"

Vert: "See for yourself." Nepgear looked, and surely enough, the name was plastered on the bow of the ships present.

Nepgear: "I see."

Noire: "We're gonna have to find a different approach after we rescue the twins. Right now, we need to leave.

In the distance, 8 Legion Su-47's were rapidly approaching at Mach 3 from the sea base that was yet to be discovered, with Ash and FlyAway at the lead. Overton remained guarding the base itself.

FlyAway: "FlyAway to Zaratan, have the last of the CRADLE forces been dealt with?"

Zaratan Captain: "They've fallen back, but we may have found some anomalies left behind."

FlyAway: "We'll check it out. Alright Ash, lets go see what's up."

Upon reaching the area, the Legionnaires split up and searched for the anomalies, quickly tracking them down to a piece of debris. There, Ash took notice of two CPU's in HDD mode, the one with a black suit and white hair quickly taking his attention. Who was she? The pinnacle of CRADLE's research? The highest lifeform of this world? Or just someone who got caught in the middle? Those were questions that processed through his mind. Taking photos with the recon intelligence camera installed on his fighter, he informed FlyAway of what he had, and the Legionnaires regrouped and headed back to the base, knowing to immediately prepare for a counterattack against CRADLE once they had more information.

Noire: "Phew, I honestly thought they were going to finish us off there and then."

Neptune: "I can't help but feel that the author's giving us too many close calls. Well, at least nothing beats stress better than a fresh cup of pudding."

Noire: "In the meantime, let's go before those elite forces change their minds."

With that, the goddesses left the closing battle and returned to the Basilicom in Lastation. And let me tell you, they're up for a surprise.

* * *

-International Coalition Higher Command Sea Fortress, Midnight in Gamindustri-

Overton, Ash, FlyAway, and several International Coalition Colonels had gathered around the map that they had just finished making with the help of recon patrols. With their new intel, they were able to determine several locations where the Cerin/CRADLE Alliance had set up shop. Having smaller numbers, they kept their territories to small areas set several miles apart from each other, lining at the coast, with some territories set up inland, hidden away from the neutral civilizations. Their closest territory confirmed was in the northern mountains, just south of the nation called Lowee, which served as the main Forward Operations Base (FOB) for CRADLE and was dangerously close not only to the Coalition's territory in eastern Lastation, but showed the possibility of holding enough forces to overwhelm and occupy the capital of Lastation, which remained only a few miles from the furthest parts of Coalition territory.

Overton: "This problem just keeps getting bigger by the day. First, there's this world, then the overactive media back our own world, then Cerin and CRADLE come out of the opposite end and attack us, and now they have the balls to move in next door."

FlyAway: "They're also deploying Barachiel Platforms, aka the 'VTOL-capable-supersonic-cargo-plane-bigger-than-a-C-5-Galaxy-armed-to-the-point-its-a-glorified-AC-130-with-jet-engines' Transporter. (Gasps for air, then exhales)" He then slapped the photos of the Barachiels onto the middle of the map, right on top of the CRADLE mountain FOB.

Overton: "Torrent also reported that two human-looking anomalies were 'collected' by the crew of one the CRADLE Barachiels present during the battle. Any idea who they are?"

Ash then placed his recon photo of Noire in her HDD form, the picture made crisp clear thanks to the enhancement technology on board.

Ash: "Here's what one of them looks like."

FlyAway: "From what we heard from recordings collected by our spy drones, these 'anomalies' are worshiped as the goddesses of this world."

Ash: "... Knowing CRADLE, they would probably, just probably... use them to enhance their own technologies... or turn them into weapons to use against us. Either way, it doesn't spell anything good."

Overton: "Well, seeing how the scale of this conflict has gotten involved, I can only say this: This is beyond Cerin and CRADLE now."

*Insert some sort of foreboding, suspenseful music*

* * *

 **And that's the end of the second chapter. Thank you all for being so patient with me, unfortunately, I still have a lot of work to do, so you'll have to keep waiting after this.**

 **And as for the SPECTER project... I'll give you a little hint. It has to do with Transhumanism concepts . But who made it possible? I'll leave it to you to find out.**

 **Please Review...**

 **Torrent: Shots...**

 **Ash: What?**


End file.
